Shrine to another unknown victim: 3200 block of Wheeler Rd. SE DC

Shrine to an unknown victim in the 3200 block of Wheeler Rd. SE, Washington DC. It is right next to the entrance to McGogney Elementary School.

I was looking for a shrine of a murder victim that occurred last night in the parking lot of a liquor store on Wheeler Rd. SE in Washington DC. The police have not yet released the name of the slain man. A neighbor commented that "they haven't built a memorial for him yet."

Another passerby told me this shrine, immediately across the street from last night's murder, was for somebody else who had been killed some time before (corroborated by the wear and rain marks on the bear and other objects). He did not know the name of this victim, and there was no evidence on the shrine of a name or other identifying material.

Misery seems to love company.

UPDATE- a neighbor I met at a nearby shrine a few days after i posted this shrine, told me he believed that this memorial is to a young man named "Tim." He may have been killed by a motorcycle.

Halloween Shrine to Number 21

There are still quite a number of small shrines in the DC area in memory of slain Redskins athlete, Sean Taylor.

This one, on a tree in the 1400 block of 1st Street NW, was recently decorated for Halloween.

See: http://dcshrines.blogspot.com/2008/01/sean-taylor-monument.html

A shrine (for a different victim of violence) that was almost directly across the street from this one has recently been taken down.
See: http://dcshrines.blogspot.com/2008/08/shrine-to-unidentified-victim-1st-o-st.html

Ground Zero - 3900 S. Capitol St SE

This rebuilt/renewed shrine is at one of the two memorial sites in the 3900 block of S. Capitol St. SE, Washington, DC.

The marker on the huge toy bear indicates it is for "Big D," possibly. No other information available.

This shrine must have been erected just the day I photographed it - it had been raining hard for the four previous days. It has a magic marker on a string attached so passersby can write their comments. There are also a few small remnants of the previous shrine on the site on the ground- champagne bottle tops, a tiny weathered toy bear, etc.

One of the written mementoes:
"Ground Zero
Life
Love
My Dude"

Seems exactly at the heart of the matter.

Update: May 14, 2009.

This shrine has been moved across the street from the tree where it was previously. I asked the man sitting by it, John, about this. He did not know for sure, but thought he owners of the auto parts store across the street wanted it taken down, so the slain man's friends placed it by the side of this gas station. John thought the killing had something to do with a carjacking.


I have found no infomation on this murder online.

Update January 7, 2010
This shrine has been regularly renewed - it is now on its second site. It seems to be for "Mike-Mike" I have been able to get no other information on its origin.

Aaron Thomas - police tape

I found no shrine at this murder site, only the ragged remnants of police crime scene tape. Aaron Thomas, 19, was fatally shot near the intersection of 7th St. and Mississippi Ave. SE, Washington DC.

According to the Washington Post, quoting from police sources, Mr. Thomas had walked into United Medical Center at about 9:20 PM on September 22nd, with a gunshot wound in his back, He died about 2 hours later after being transferred to the Washington Hospital Center's trauma unit. No motive in the shooting has yet been determined.

I searched for a shrine near his home in the 100 block of Galveston St SE, only a few blocks from where he was killed.

Nothing.